Parsons' record 10 3-points not enough for Rockets in loss to Grizzlies

Forward's 10 straight 2nd-half 3-pointers set team, NBA marks

Rockets forward Chandler Parsons, right, finds the Grizzlies' James Johnson to be of little distraction to his record 10th 3-pointer.

Rockets forward Chandler Parsons, right, finds the Grizzlies' James Johnson to be of little distraction to his record 10th 3-pointer.

Photo: Smiley N. Pool, Staff

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Despite scoring 30 of his 34 points n the second half, Chandler Parsons leaves the court an unhappy loser.

Despite scoring 30 of his 34 points n the second half, Chandler Parsons leaves the court an unhappy loser.

Photo: Smiley N. Pool, Staff

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Pat Beverley, left, draws a charge against Mike Miller in the final seconds to give the Rockets a final chance.

Pat Beverley, left, draws a charge against Mike Miller in the final seconds to give the Rockets a final chance.

Photo: Smiley N. Pool, Staff

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The Rockets' Terrence Jones, right, tries to get his shot over the outstretched hand of the Grizzlies' Ed Davis on Friday night.

The Rockets' Terrence Jones, right, tries to get his shot over the outstretched hand of the Grizzlies' Ed Davis on Friday night.

Photo: Smiley N. Pool, Staff

Parsons' record 10 3-points not enough for Rockets in loss to Grizzlies

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Chandler Parsons fired away again and again. He shot 3-pointers on the break, from the corner and from the top of the circle as much as 28 feet away. He nailed 3s off the catch and off the dribble, stepping back and moving forward.

With 10, Parsons made more than any Rocket has in a game, more than any NBA player has in a half. He made more consecutively without a miss than any Rocket has in one game, more than the rest of the Rockets and Memphis Grizzlies had combined Friday night.

But the forward could not make enough, or in the end, even take enough.

With the Rockets down to their last possession, the Grizzlies finally didn't let him launch again, swarming him in the final seconds until he had nowhere to turn. When he gave up the ball in the final seconds, the Rockets' last chance went with it as Pat Beverley didn't get his shot near the rim and the Grizzlies held on 88-87 at Toyota Center.

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A perfect 10

Most 3-pointers made in a game in Rocket history:

Player 3PM

Chandler Parsons 10

Robert Horry 9

Rick Barry 8

Vernon Maxwell 8

Robert Horry 8

Rafer Alston 8

"It's frustrating," said Parsons, who scored 30 of his career-high 34 points in the second half. "At the end of the day, you want to win the game. No matter how good or bad you play is really irrelevant if you lose a game."

The Rockets used their final timeout with 8.6 seconds left to set up a pick-and-roll with Dwight Howard setting the screen for Parsons. Parsons was trapped by Marc Gasol and James Johnson, the rookie the Grizzlies had signed off the Rockets' NBA Development League team.

Parsons looked toward James Harden on his left. But Courtney Lee had overplayed Harden and Harden tried a backdoor cut that the Grizzlies, filling the lane to cover Howard on his roll to the basket, easily bottled up.

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Parsons moved to his right but picked up his dribble, forcing him to give the ball up to Beverley without enough time to free himself from Mike Conley to get a shot to the rim.

'My body went numb'

The Rockets could not blame the final possession - or the previous possession, when Parsons tried a runner from eight feet on the baseline - for the loss. It took Parsons' record-setting night just to keep the Rockets in the game.

"I was pretty much unconscious," Parsons said. "My body went numb. I never felt that feeling on a basketball court before. It was a lot of fun. I felt like anything I would throw up there would go in. It felt extremely good."

In every other way, however, the Rockets got little going offensively. Their 30 points in the paint were a season low and less than half their average in the three-game winning streak they brought into the game. Other than Parsons, the Rockets made just 4-of-20 3-pointers. They went 1-of-14 from 3-point range in the first half, scoring just 35 points.

Harden had a career-high 13 assists, finding Parsons during his hot streak, but the guard made just 2 of 11 shots. Beverley was 1-of-11.

The Rockets could not even get inside enough to draw fouls. Howard took just two free throws; Harden only six. In the previous meeting with the Grizzlies, Harden took 25 free throws, 11 more than the Rockets team Friday. The Rockets' 14 free-throw attempts were their fewest this season.

Nothing doing

"We didn't put much pressure on them in the paint and when we did get in there we kind of threw floaters up there and missed shots and played like we were just throwing it around the basket for a while," Rockets coach Kevin McHale said. "Chandler got something going offensively, but other than that we couldn't get much going.

"We didn't make a lot of shots. Chandler kept us in the game. Otherwise, it would have been an 88-70 game. We didn't attack. We had 14 free throws. We've had 14 free throws in a quarter before. We just weren't very sharp the whole game."

Instead, the Rockets had to rely on one player firing away, nearly scoring as many points in the second half as the team had in the first.

"That Chandler, he is something else," Memphis' Zach Randolph said. "The kid has improved so much … there's not enough I can say about the young guy."

Yet, after Parsons stole the show, he came up short when he could not find anyone to help, and the Grizzlies took the win.